Therapeutic air beds having multiple air cells disposed in side by side relation and forming an air inflated patient support are well known as evidenced by the prior U.S. Pat. No. 4,638,519 of Jack H. Hess, a joint inventor hereof, and by U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,822,425 of Seales and 4,525,886 of Hunt, et al. In most cases, these air controlled patient support systems are divided into body support segments that are maintained at different pressures to support different parts of a patient's body. For example, the air cells of most therapeutic air bed are arranged into a plurality of segments, each segment being maintained at a preselected pressure range for support of a particular portion of the patient's body. It is typical for such therapeutic air beds to have five or more patient body support segments each at different pressures.
The air supply systems and air cell pressure control mechanisms for air beds having a number of patient support segments are typically quite complex and are therefore quite expensive. It is desirable to provide a novel therapeutic air bed arrangement that having a plurality of patient body support segments and which is of quite simple and inexpensive nature and is reliable in use.
Therapeutic air beds are particularly used by patients who are likely to be bedridden for a significant period of time and are likely to be immobile for extended periods. These patients are typically subject to the development of pressure induced lesions if conventional hospital beds are employed. These pressure inducted lesions develop because the capillaries in the skin of the patient are compressed and blood flow is restricted due to the mechanical interface pressure that is caused by the weight of the patient and the resistance of the patient support surface of the bed. Due to insufficient blood flow, the skin in these high pressure areas beings to deteriorate and pressure lesions ultimately result as the skin tissue deteriorates. Therapeutic air beds were developed in general to accommodate patients who are likely to be bedridden for extended periods of time or likely to be immobile for extended periods and patients who have particular skin problems such as burns. The material from which the upper portion of the air beds is composed tends to form about the patient's body to a certain extent, thereby evenly distributing the weight of the patient to the supporting surface of the air bed. This feature minimizes the likelihood that any particular portion of the patient's body will be subjected to sufficient mechanical pressure that blood flow to skin tissues will be impeded. Therapeutic air beds, therefor, minimize the possibility that patients will develop pressure induced lesions.
Another important aspect of therapeutic air beds is that many of them provide for circulation of air from the air cells upwardly to the patient support structure of the air bed and also to the patient. This gentle upward flow of air is typically emitted from a plurality of holes along the upper surface of the air cells or through perforations formed when the material of the air cells is sewn or through porous material of the air cells themselves. This flowing air is effective to remove moisture from the material of the air bed so that the therapeutic value of the air bed will not be impeded by moisture. It is desirable to provide an air bed construction of simple and efficient nature which is capable of continuously emitting a gentle upward flow of moisture through the material of the patient support system to therefore provide for patient comfort and to enhance the therapeutic aspects of the air bed construction.
It is also well known that the material from which air beds are composed tends to become soiled in a short period of time as the patient perspires and as medication or other foreign liquid or solid materials come into contact with the material of the air bed. In most cases the air cells and other components of the air bed system are quite difficult and expensive to clean. It is desirable, therefore, to provide a therapeutic air inflated patient support system that can quickly and easily be disassembled and subjected to ordinary cleaning such as laundering, dry cleaning, etc.